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Both the SAT-3 and WACS undersea cable were damaged Jan 16, 2020. The cable systems are deployed in the Atlantic Ocean and connect various African countries to Europe – including South Afric. According to reports, the issue with the SAT-3 is believed to have been located near Libreville, Gabon. WACs meanwhile is believed to have suffered two faults one of the coast of congo and another near the UK., . This affected more than a dozen countries besides South Africa. This left many South Africans with slow Internet connections to international websites. The cable systems are deployed in the Atlantic Ocean and connect various African countries to Europe – including South Africaa. That leaves Africa Coast to Coast (ACE) and Equiano providing access to Europe and beyond and SAFE providing access via India and Malaysia and the South Africa Express (SAEx2) which will provide access via India and Malaysia in 2021.
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RFS = Ready For Service so the current backups to Europe and probably the US are ACE going West and possibly SAFE going East.
Result as observed by PingER
Looking at the minimum RTT seen from SLAC to 20 targets in Southern Africa we see a step function going from a 25%-75% of ~ 300-320 ms to 325-355ms. See the statistics below.
Minimum RTT
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measured every 30 minutes for Sites in Southern AFRICA seen from EDU.SLAC.STANFORD.PINGER
| Tick | min | 25th% | avg | median | 75th% | 90th% | 95th% | max | iqr | std dev | # pairs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20Jan01 | 280.444 | 303.117 | 312.614 | 316.141 | 321.182 | 325.130 | 325.531 | 329.477 | 18.065 | 12.637 | 20 |
| 20Jan02 | 280.498 | 297.056 | 309.626 | 314.285 | 317.884 | 324.135 | 324.826 | 325.112 | 20.828 | 12.793 | 20 |
| 20Jan03 | 280.517 | 303.163 | 312.347 | 316.178 | 321.177 | 324.280 | 324.960 | 329.499 | 18.014 | 12.433 | 20 |
| 20Jan04 | 280.461 | 303.154 | 312.365 | 316.158 | 321.146 | 324.649 | 324.978 | 329.489 | 17.992 | 12.457 | 20 |
| 20Jan05 | 280.447 | 303.144 | 312.051 | 316.130 | 321.151 | 324.690 | 324.943 | 329.539 | 18.007 | 12.395 | 20 |
| 20Jan06 | 280.451 | 296.392 | 310.530 | 315.753 | 320.903 | 324.763 | 324.981 | 329.496 | 24.511 | 13.628 | 20 |
| 20Jan07 | 280.468 | 296.436 | 310.834 | 315.841 | 321.240 | 324.988 | 325.506 | 329.450 | 24.804 | 13.775 | 20 |
| 20Jan08 | 280.476 | 303.144 | 311.708 | 314.254 | 321.011 | 325.028 | 325.524 | 329.554 | 17.867 | 12.457 | 20 |
| 20Jan09 | 280.518 | 303.151 | 311.782 | 314.255 | 319.939 | 323.939 | 325.036 | 328.314 | 16.788 | 11.658 | 20 |
| 20Jan10 | 280.465 | 300.798 | 309.671 | 311.542 | 315.925 | 324.952 | 325.496 | 328.318 | 15.127 | 12.842 | 20 |
| 20Jan11 | 280.474 | 301.814 | 309.915 | 311.603 | 315.171 | 325.012 | 325.430 | 329.738 | 13.357 | 12.748 | 20 |
| 20Jan12 | 280.515 | 296.730 | 311.775 | 315.344 | 322.416 | 324.938 | 329.779 | 330.877 | 25.686 | 14.228 | 20 |
| 20Jan13 | 280.429 | 305.275 | 311.683 | 313.730 | 316.397 | 325.007 | 325.491 | 329.706 | 11.122 | 12.046 | 20 |
| 20Jan14 | 280.531 | 303.975 | 309.400 | 311.155 | 315.672 | 318.695 | 324.584 | 329.770 | 11.697 | 11.031 | 20 |
| 20Jan15 | 296.380 | 305.315 | 313.079 | 312.597 | 318.192 | 324.055 | 325.876 | 336.248 | 12.877 | 9.760 | 20 |
| 20Jan16 | 296.726 | 305.008 | 313.498 | 312.889 | 319.100 | 325.828 | 328.229 | 336.273 | 14.092 | 10.343 | 20 |
| 20Jan17 | 301.328 | 330.032 | 348.988 | 348.759 | 355.767 | 387.082 | 392.328 | 408.823 | 25.735 | 25.731 | 20 |
| 20Jan18 | 301.306 | 330.101 | 345.969 | 348.990 | 355.285 | 366.246 | 385.621 | 389.538 | 25.184 | 21.546 | 20 |
| 20Jan19 | 301.268 | 329.970 | 346.692 | 346.227 | 355.276 | 385.389 | 389.286 | 396.487 | 25.306 | 24.191 | 20 |
| 20Jan20 | 301.307 | 327.376 | 342.864 | 340.419 | 352.677 | 369.400 | 386.111 | 389.233 | 25.301 | 22.337 | 20 |
| 20Jan21 | 301.146 | 327.248 | 346.865 | 342.833 | 352.699 | 396.258 | 412.843 | 415.990 | 25.451 | 30.435 | 20 |
| 20Jan22 | 301.350 | 323.368 | 341.581 | 339.179 | 352.644 | 369.499 | 386.202 | 389.188 | 29.276 | 23.344 | 20 |
| 20Jan23 | 305.829 | 324.277 | 342.455 | 339.436 | 352.019 | 369.405 | 386.094 | 389.259 | 27.742 | 22.234 | 20 |
| 20Jan24 | 305.722 | 323.285 | 341.580 | 338.587 | 352.055 | 366.430 | 386.448 | 389.562 | 28.770 | 22.446 | 20 |
| 20Jan25 | 305.680 | 324.671 | 342.747 | 340.071 | 351.452 | 369.217 | 385.966 | 389.601 | 26.781 | 22.061 | 20 |
| 20Jan26 | 305.761 | 323.724 | 343.401 | 349.319 | 356.299 | 386.491 | 389.553 | 389.553 | 32.575 | 22.892 | 19 |
| 20Jan27 | 305.794 | 321.125 | 341.578 | 338.668 | 352.731 | 369.613 | 386.166 | 389.261 | 31.606 | 23.321 | 20 |
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The first step occurred between 08:00am and 09:00am Jan 14th, the second step between 07:00am and 08:00am Jan 16th (both times are GMT). I can find no evidence of a failure on January 14th, however it sure looks like there was one.
Traceroute
The route measured 19:00 hrs 1/28/2020 PST from SLAC to South Africa goes East across the US via Chicago, Washinton to London and thence S. Africa:
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